In order to further encourage Cloud Licensing, the Strict Cloud Licensing project will include several iterations to encourage customers to use Cloud License activation codes rather than a Legacy License file to activate their self-managed instances. The following GitLab internal licensing terms page provides a technical definition of the current three types of licenses (Cloud Licensing, Offline and Legacy) associated with Cloud Licensing.
Effective April 2022: In order to further encourage Cloud Licensing, self-managed customers will no longer receive a GitLab license file attached to their activation email. Instead, customers will now only receive a Cloud License activation code. If the customer does not want to use Cloud Licensing, they can receive a Legacy License file using the following methods:
Effective June 2022: Cloud Licensing will be enabled automatically by default as detailed in the Strict Cloud Licensing roll out plan for all customers (except OSS, EDU or Start-Up products). Customers will no longer have the ability to download a license file from Customers Portal. In addition, Offline licenses will now be available to allow customers with air-gapped or offline instances to receive the benefits of Cloud Licensing. In order to receive a Legacy License or Offline License, customers will need to follow the below outlined process.
Customers who cannot activate with Cloud Licensing will need to obtain either an Offline Cloud License or a Legacy License. The process for this is that the customer will need to contact their Sales Account Manager and request a Cloud Licensing exemption.
By default, the TurnOnCloudLicensing__c flag in SFDC will be set to Yes on every quote during the sales cycle. If the Sales Rep wants to opt the customer out, they can update this field to Offline or No. If this occurs, approval is required via the standard SFDC approval processes by a Sales VP. Once the quote is finalized AND approved, the quote is synced to Zuora, which in turn creates and activates the subscription. In this scenario, the customer will receive their activation email with their license file attached and will also have the ability to download the license file from the GitLab Customers portal.
The above defined sales-initiated exemption process should be used for all customers. If a situation arises where a Legacy License or Offline License is requested by a customer from Support after they have already received a Cloud License activation email, Support should engage the sales account manager to follow the above approval process to provide this customer with the requested license. If an emergency situation occurs where the customer requires access during the approval process, a support engineer should provide the customer with a trial license until approval is received. Once approved, the correct license type can be issued to the customer.
If approved, the support engineer will need to first update the Cloud Licensing flag within CustomersDot's Admin.
Under "admin/customer/
The matrix below defines the impact of setting the Cloud Licensing flag value to Yes, Offline or No on the eligibility of three license types.
| Cloud Licensing Flag value | Cloud License | Offline Cloud | Legacy License |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Eligible | Not Eligible | Eligible |
| Offline | Eligible | Eligible | Not Eligible |
| No | Eligible | Eligible | Eligible |
Once updated, the support engineer should then generate the license manually as detailed in Creating a Legacy License File.